A Doctor to Remember Read Free

tell.
    ‘Apparently she died before I had my accident, and I’d been to her funeral. All this business with the property had to be put to one side while I was recovering in hospital.’ She glanced at him. ‘Had you known my aunt for a long time?’ She was suddenly keen to know how he was connected to her relative, and how he came to be caretaking the property.
    He appeared to hesitate before answering and she wondered if this was something she ought to have known, some part of the way they’d known one another. ‘We met a few years back, but then I went to work with the air ambulance in Wales, so I didn’t see much of her until I came to work in Devon last summer. After that, she called on me from time to time to help fix things about the place.’
    ‘I’m glad she had someone. Thanks for that.’ She smiled at him, and made light conversation with him while they finished their meals. Her emotions were in a precarious state and she didn’t want to enquire right then into how she’d known Matt in the past. Perhaps he understood that, or maybe he had his own reasons for not bringing it up. He seemed concerned, and clearly he had been thrown off balance by her loss of memory.
    They left the inn together a short time later and went to his car, a fairly new rapid-response vehicle equipped with a blue light, high-visibility strips and badges.
    He held open the passenger door for her and she slipped into the seat. The smell of luxurious soft leather greeted her, and she sat back and tried to relax.
    Matt set the car in motion and started along the coast road, cruising at a moderate pace so she had the chance to take in the scenery on the way.
    She gazed out of the window, watching the harbour slowly recede, and in a while they left the blue sweep of the bay behind them as he drove inland towards the hills. The landscape changed to rolling green vistas interspersed with narrow lanes lined with clusters of pretty cottages decorated with hanging baskets full of bright flowers.
    He sent her a quick, sideways glance. ‘Is this meant to be a kind of holiday for you—a chance to recover from everything that has happened? Or are you more concerned with sorting out your aunt’s estate?’
    ‘I suppose it’s a bit of both, really. I was beginning to feel that I needed a break, a change of scenery at least, and although it was a sad thing that my aunt passed on, it gave me an opportunity to get away. I…’ She hesitated momentarily, then went on, ‘There’s no one else left in my family, so it’s down to me to sort out what’s to be done with the property.’
    Perhaps she’d managed to come to terms with all that before the accident, but since then she’d felt her isolation keenly. Being unable to remember people around her meant that she was cut off from all that was familiar, and it left her with an acute sense of loneliness.
    ‘And do you think you’ll manage all right?’ he said, cutting in on her thoughts. ‘If you’re not working, I mean?’ He saw her hesitation and pulled a wry face. ‘Am I overstepping the mark? You’ll have to let me know if I do that—I’m afraid I tend to get carried away and say what’s on my mind. ‘
    She shook her head. ‘That’s all right. I appreciate you being open with me.’ She frowned. ‘I’m not sure how I’d handle going back to medicine just yet. But I have enough money to keep me going for now, until I find my feet. After my parents died some years ago, it seems that I sold the property and invested what they left me. So at least I don’t have any worries on that score.’
    ‘Perhaps that’s just as well. It looks as though you have more than enough on your plate right now.’
    He concentrated on the road for a while as he negotiated a series of bends, and then, after following a winding country lane for about half a mile, Saffi suddenly became aware of an isolated farmhouse coming into view. It was set back from the road amidst fields, a little gem in the